It is often desirable to couple electronic device components in a manner that also provides electrical contacts. This can sometimes involve the use of an adhesive that facilitates electrical contacts. An anisotropic conductive film (“ACF”) is one example of a conductive adhesive film having electrically conductive particles dispersed within a binder material. ACFs are commonly used, for example, in the manufacture of liquid crystal displays to bond and create electrical connections between display components and integrated circuit (“IC”) components. In some applications, an ACF is placed between electrodes of a display component and electrodes of another electronic or IC component. The components are then pressed together such that both a mechanical bonding and electrical connections are made. The resulting structure is anisotropic with unidirectional electrical connections between the display component and the IC component (e.g., z direction) but no electrical connections between adjacent electrodes of the display component or IC component (e.g., x or y directions).
Various ACF and other conductive adhesive film applications can include providing a foil shield for electronic components, such as touch screen sensors or other items where signal shielding is preferable. In some applications, it is also desirable for there to be flexibility in and around the foil shield region. Due to this desire for flexibility, as well as the bonding nature of ACFs and other similar films, this has traditionally required that the foil shield have multiple stacked layers. This results in relatively high costs and a significant thickness to the foil shield.
While existing conductive adhesive films have worked well in the past, there can be room for improvement. Accordingly, there is a need for improved conductive adhesive film structures that bond and provide electrical connections for electronic device components.